ESSEX COUNTYWest OrangeSights & Sites
●Thomas Edison National Historical Park – 221 Main Street; 973-736-0550; nps.gov/edis; put aside fact that this is 21-acre complex with meticulously restored stained-glass windows (make sure to see Penelope Waiting for Ulysses to Return from War, displayed prominently on former residence, Glenmont, on main staircase’s landing) and enormous attention to period detail in laboratory restoration; just forget all that; what is truly amazing is idea that, as you wander through laboratory building, one man dreamed up and fabricated so many devices: from 1st phonograph and 1st movie studio (rolling and rotatable on rails), to poured-cement houses, fuel cells, execution harnesses for elephants (yes, elephants), etc.; room after room, floor after floor; no exhibit more elegant than “New Things” pigeonhole in his desk, still stuffed with ideas he meant to get around to when he had time.